Friday, March 8, 2013

Algeria is the largest country in Africa, the Arab world,
and the Mediterranean Basin. Its southern part includes a significant portion
of the Sahara. To the north, the Tell Atlas form with the Saharan Atlas,
further south, two parallel sets of reliefs in approaching eastbound, and
between which are inserted vast plains and highlands. Both Atlas tend to merge
in eastern Algeria. The vast mountain ranges of Aures and Nememcha, occupy the
entire north eastern Algeria and are delineated by the Tunisian border. The
highest point is Mount Tahat (3,003 m). Algeria lies mostly between latitudes
19° and 37°N, and longitudes 9°W and 12°E. Most of the coastal area is hilly,
sometimes even mountainous, and there are a few natural harbours. The area from
the coast to the Tell Atlas is fertile. Algeria is the biggest country in
Africa, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 90% of its surface
is covered by the Sahara desert.

In this region, midday desert temperatures can be hot year
round. After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat,
and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are
recorded. The highest official temperature was 50.6 °C (123.1 °F) at In Salah. Rainfall
is fairly plentiful along the coastal part of the Tell Atlas, ranging from 400
to 670 mm annually.

The varied vegetation of Algeria includes coastal,
mountainous and grassy desert-like regions which all support a wide range of
wildlife. Many of the creatures comprising the Algerian wildlife live in close
proximity to civilization. The most commonly seen animals include the wild
boars, jackals, and gazelles, although it is not uncommon to spot fennecs
(foxes), and jerboas. Algeria also has a few panther, leopard and cheetah
populations but these are seldom seen. A variety of bird species make the
country an attraction for bird watchers. The forests are inhabited by boars and
jackals. Barbary macaques are the sole native monkey. Snakes, monitor lizards,
and numerous other reptiles can be found living among an array of rodents
throughout the semi arid regions of Algeria. Many Animals are now extinguished,
among which the Barbary lions and bears. In the north some of the native flora
includes Macchia scrub, olive trees, oaks, cedars and other conifers. The
mountain regions contain large forests of evergreens and some deciduous trees.
Fig, eucalyptus, agave, and various palm trees grow in the warmer areas. The
grape vine is indigenous to the coast. In the Sahara region some oases have
palm trees. Acacias with wild olives are the predominant flora in the remainder
of the Sahara.

Camels are used extensively; the desert also abounds with
poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes, scorpions, and numerous insects.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

In December 1991 the Front Islamique du Salut, a broad
coalition of Islamist groups, dominated the first of two rounds of legislative
elections. Fearing the election of an Islamist Government, the authorities
intervened on 11 January 1992, cancelling the elections. Bendjedid resigned and
a High Council of State was installed to act as Presidency. The FIS was
subsequently banned, triggering a vicious civil insurgency between its armed
wing, the Armed Islamic Group, and the armed forces in which over 100,000 are
thought to have died. The Armed Islamic Group declared a ceasefire in October
1997. Algeria held elections in 1999, which were won by President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika. Bouteflika focused on restoring stability to the country following
his election and announced a ‘Civil Concord’ initiative, approved in a
referendum, under which many political prisoners were pardoned, and several
thousand members of armed groups were granted exemption from prosecution under
a limited amnesty which was in force up to 13 January 2000. The AIS disbanded
and levels of insurgent violence fell rapidly. The Groupe Salafiste pour la
Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Group Islamic Armée,
continued a terrorist campaign against the Government.

Following a wave of protests in the wake of popular
uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, Algeria officially lifted its
19-year-old state of emergency on 24 February 2011. The country's Council of
Ministers approved the repeal two days prior. Several pieces of legislation
were enacted, dealing with political parties, the electoral code and the
representation of women in elected bodies. In April 2011, Bouteflika promised
further Constitutional and political reforms.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Algeria's first president was the FLN leader Ahmed Ben Bella. Morocco's claim to portions of western Algeria led to the Sand War in 1963. Ben Bella was overthrown by his former ally and defense minister, Houari Boumédienne in 1965. Under Ben Bella, the government had already become increasingly socialist and authoritarian, and this trend continued throughout Boumédienne's government. However, Boumédienne relied much more heavily on the army, and reduced the sole legal party to a merely symbolic role. Agriculture was collectivised, and a massive industrialization drive launched. Oil extraction facilities were nationalized. This was especially beneficial to the leadership after the 1973 oil crisis. In the 1960s and 70s under President Houari Boumediene, Algeria pursued a programme of industrialisation within a state-controlled socialist economy. Boumediene’s successor, Chadli Bendjedid, introduced some liberal economic reforms and prosecuted a policy of Arabisation in Algerian society and public life. Teachers of Arabic, brought in from other Muslim countries, spread radical Islamic thought in schools and sowed the seeds of political Islamism.

The Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil,
which led to hardship when the price collapsed during the 1980s oil glut.
Economic recession caused by the crash in world oil prices resulting in social
unrest during the 1980s and ultimately forced Bendjedid to bring in a
multi-party system at the end of the decade. Political parties developed such
as the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), a broad coalition of Islamist groups.

Friday, February 8, 2013

In 1671 the taifa rebelled, killed the agha, and placed one
of its own in power. The new leader received the title of dey. After 1689 the
right to select the dey passed to the divan, a council of some sixty notables at
first was dominated by the ojaq, but by the 18th century it had become the
dey's instrument. In 1710 the dey persuaded the sultan to recognize him and his
successors as regent, replacing the pasha in that role. Although Algiers
remained a part of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman government, ceased to have
effective influence there. The dey was in effect a constitutional autocrat. The
dey was elected for a life term, but in the 159 years (1671-1830) that the
system survived, fourteen of the twenty-nine deys were assassinated. Despite
usurpation, military coups, and occasional mob rule, the day-to-day operation
of government was remarkably orderly. Although the regency patronized the
tribal chieftains, it never had the unanimous allegiance of the countryside,
where heavy taxation frequently provoked unrest. Autonomous tribal states were
tolerated, and the regency's authority was seldom applied in the Kabylie.

The Barbary pirates preyed on Christian and other
non-Islamic shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea. The pirates forced the
people on the ships they captured into slavery; the pirates also attacked
coastal villages in southern and Western Europe in order to enslave the inhabitants.
They often made raids, called Razzias, on European coastal towns to capture
Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in places such as Turkey, Egypt, Iran,
Algeria and Morocco.

In 1558, Barbary corsairs captured the town of Ciutadella
(Minorca), destroyed it, slaughtered the inhabitants and took 3,000 survivors
to Istanbul as slaves. Barbary pirates often attacked the Balearic Islands, and
in response many coastal watchtowers and fortified churches were erected. The
threat was so severe that the island of Formentera became uninhabited. Between
1609 to 1616, England lost 466 merchant ships to Barbary pirates. In the 19th
century, the pirates forged affiliations with Caribbean powers, paying a
"license tax" in exchange for safe harbor of their vessels. One
American slave reported that the Algerians had enslaved 130 American seamen in
the Mediterranean and Atlantic from 1785 to 1793.

ibibo

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Whatever interesting, funny, informative comes my way, I post it on my blog.So you will find my blogs are most unoriginal, with lots of flaws. So don't crucify me for plagiarism; yet it is not simple copy paste, i sprinkle my opinions here and there...